Articulated bobbin holder



March 9, 1948. w MOORE 2,437,471

ARTICULATED BOBBIN HOLDER Filed larch s, 1947 IN VEN TOR.

QWILUAME-MOORE ,X M

ATToEA/EY Patented 1 9, 1948 ARTICULA'I'ED BOBBIN HOLDER William E.Moore, Philadelphia, Pa., assignmto Edward J. McBride, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application March 6, 1947, Serial No. 732,715

lclaim. i

In the art of weaving, a creel is associated with a warping machine, andeach such creel includes a plurality of holders for supporting therequired number or paying-off bobbins.

In order to insure a continuous supply of thread from the paying-oilbobbins to the weaving machine, the bobbins are grouped in pairs withthe leading end of the thread on one of a pair of bobbins connected tothe tension casting and, hence, to the warping machine, and with theother, or trailing, end of said thread connected to the leading end ofthe'thread on the other of said pair of bobbins. By this arrangement,when the thread on the first of a pair of bobbins is used up, the secondof said bobbins begins to pay oil and, in the meantime, the attendantremoves the empty first bobbin, puts a new loaded bobbin in its place,and ties the leading end of the thread on thenewly-placed bobbin to thetrailing end oi the thread on said second bobbin, and so on.

The creels are usually elongated and are arranged back to back so as toform an aisle or alley therebetween, through which the attendant hasaccess to the cone holders of the creel so as to replace empty bobbinswith loaded ones.

In order to facilitate the work and thusenable an attendant to take careof two relatively large creels, it has been proposed to mount the bobbinholders for rotation about vertical axes to enable the attendant torotate any desired bobbin holder from its normal position facing thetension casting or the warping machine to a position in which suchholder will face toward the attendant, and will thus be more readilyaccessible.

It is, therefore, the main object or the invention to produce animproved articulated bobbin holder of the type set forth.

A further object is to produce an improved articulated bobbin holderwhich can be easily moved for the purpose set forth, but which isnevertheless held in its operative position with suilicient firmness toinsure against accidental displacement of the holder.

A still further object is to produce a simple, inexpensive and durablearticulated bobbin holder, which can be operated by being swung betweentwo fixed positions without the use of any catches or other extraneousdevices, and without the exerelse of special strength or skill.

A still further object is to produce an articulated bobbin holder inwhich the operating parts are concealed so as to minimize the danger ofentangling or snagging of the thread being paid all the bobbins.

These and other objects are attained by my z invention as set forth inthe following specification and as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front fragmentary, elevational view of a portion of a creelprovided with bobbin holders embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view'on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view, partly in top plan and partly inhorizontal section, illustrating the manner of articulating a pair ofbobbin holders.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig.2.

In the drawings, there is illustrated a portion or a creel formed of a.plurality of uprights 6 which may be of any desired height and which arefirmly anchored to a suitable foundation or other support, not shown.The manner in which the uprights are anchored need not be shown, sinceany suitable means which will prevent displacement of rotation of theuprights may be used.

Each of the uprights 6 carries a plurality of vertically-spaced pairs ofbobbin holders 8 and it which are adapted to support paying-off bobbinsl2, H, l8, 18, etc. The yarn on these bobbins is fed through suitableguides to tension castings and, hence, to the warping machine, in aconventional manner which need not be shown or described.

In practice, the bobbins are arranged in associated pairs and, as shownin Fig. 2, the leading end 20 oi the thread on bobbin I6 is fed, in thedirection of the arrow, to the tension casting and to the warpingmachine, and the trailing end 22 of the thread on the bobbin i6 is tiedat 23 to the leading end 24 of the thread on the associated bobbin l4.When the bobbin I6 is empty and while the thread on the bobbin I4 isbeing paid out, the bobbin I6 is removed, a new, loaded, bob bin isplaced on the holder, and the leading end of the thread on the newbobbin is connected to the trailing end 26 of the thread on the bobbinIt. When the bobbin His-empty, the process is repeated. By thisarrangement, the bobbins of each pair of bobbins pay oi! thread inalternatin order and thus insure a continuous thread supply to thewarping machine.

Each of the bobbin holders 8 and I0 is formed of a supporting movablearm 30 and a cone or bobbin-engaging element 32. The structure of theelement 82 is not claimed herein and is, therefore, not described indetail. It is now merely pointed out that the element 32 includes aresillent or compressible cage 33 mounted on a shank 8i disposed at asubstantially right angle to the arm a. The cage a ispreferably conicaland,

because it is compressible, it is adapted for frictionally engagingtubes, bobbins, cones or other thread packages. In order words. thecage- 33 can expand or contract. within a given range, so as toaccommodate bobbins, cones, etc., of different sizes.

The arms II of each associated pair of holders are mounted forindependent rotation about the axis of the uprights supporting theholders, as shown in Fig. 3. For this purpose, each of the arms 30 ismounted as follows: A collar 88 is secured to the upright C by a setscrew II, the outer end of which extends beyond the circumference of thecollar, as shown in Fig. 4. The inner end of the arm 30 is forked toform a yoke or ball, and apertures are provided through the yoke for thepassage of the upright O therethrough. The apertures in the yoke are notbig enough to permit passage therethrough of the fixed collar so thatthe collar it serves to locate the arm It on the upright. In assemblingthe apparatus, a collar is placed between the limbs of the yoke, theupright is passed through the registering apertures provided in thecollar 36 and in the limbs of the yoke, and the set screw 38 istightened to fix the collar on the upright. This prevents movement ofthe holder longitudinally of the upright but permits the supporting arm30 to rotate about the axis of the upright.

In order to provide an operating position for the holder andstill permitrotation of the arm relative to the upright, the collar is provided witha rounded recess seat ill, and the portion of the inner end of the armIII which is between the limbs of the yoke is provided with a recess 42which houses a compression spring 44. A ball 46 positioned between thespring and the collar 36 completes the assembly.

By this arrangement, the ball 48, pressed by the spring 44, will 'at alltimes frictionally engage the collar 36 and will thus prevent free orunintended rotation of the arm 3| relative to the upright 6. The seat llis so located that when the ball 46 engages said seat, the correspondingarm 30 will occupy one 01' the positions shown in Fig. 2, it beingunderstood that when the arm 30 is rotated in either direction relativeto the upright 8, the ball it will be out of registration with the seat40 and will ride on the collar 36. The registration of the ball It withthe seat 40 locates the normal operating position of the arm 30 relativeto the upright 8 and alsoinsures against unintended movement of the. armfrom said position.

Operation As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the attendant moves back and forth,in the direction of the arrows 8, or behind a creel formed of anydesired number of uprights set up in a row, and constantly replacesempty bobbins with loaded ones in the manner above set forth. In orderto do this with bobbin holders embodying the invention, the operatorgrasps the desired arm and rotates it in such a fashion as to cause theparticular cone holder to face the operator or toward the the emptyempty bobbin has been replaced with a loaded one, the arm 3. is pushedback from the dotted to the solid line position. When the bobbin on theholder 8 is empty, the same operation, but in reverse order, is carriedout, all as shown in solid and dotted lines in Pig. 3.

In the event that one or both of the arms II are rotated in thedirection of the arrows II in Fig. 2, the projecting ends of the setscrews will abut the inner ends of the arms 30 and will serve as stopsto limit the movement of the holders in the directions of the arrows ortowards a meetingpoint in front of the creel.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that by my improved construction,the bobbin holders are provided with a fixed operating position and aremovable without any skill and with little effort to a position in whichempty bobbins may be easily and rapidly replaced with loaded ones. Also.it will be noted that the springs are wholly concealed and that theaccessible surfaces are smooth and uninterrupted, so as to minimize thedanger of entanglement and swaging, and that no extraneous andseparately operable parts are employed for looking or for permittingmovement of the holders.

What I claim is:

In a creel, a fixed upright, a bobbin holder including a supporting armand a bobbin-engaging element carried at one end of said arm, and meansfor positioning said holder on, and permitting rotation of said holderrelative to, said upright, said means comprising a yoke formed at theother end of said arm, a collar between the limbs of said yoke, therebeing registering apertures in said collar and in said limbs of saidyoke for passage therethrough of said upright and the outside diameterof said collar being greater than the diameter of the apertures in saidlimbs of said yoke, means for fixing said collar on said upright, a wallstructure forming a rounded seat in the exterior-of said collar, therebeing a recess formed in the end of said arm adjacent said yoke, a coilspring in said recess, and a ball intermediate said spring and saidcollar for yieldably pressing said ball against said collar to resistmovement of said arm relative to said upright, said seat being solocated with reference to said upright that when said ball engages saidseat said arm will occupy a first, predetermined position in which saidholder and the bobbin thereon will face toward one side of said creel,said arm being rotatable to a second position in which said holder andthe bobbin thereon will face toward the opposite side of said creel toenable an operator to remove bobbins from or to replace bobbins on saidholders.

WILLIAM E. MOORE.

